The Wraith Chronicals
by WraithWriter
Summary: A new girl arrives at Mutant Manor and is befriended by Kurt. Read about the life and times of Wraith. Mmm...typical fluff for those who like it.
1. The New Girl

Disclaimer: This is for all of my story because I am too lazy to do it for all. :3

I do not own Xmen Evolution Sobs uncontrolably But I do own Wraith and all to do about her. Hehehe. I hope you enjoy. :)

XMEN EVOLUTION FANFIC THE WRAITH CHRONICLES

The New Girl

The X mansion was in a flurry. There were people everywhere doing one thing or another. Everyone was preparing to go on a vacation of sorts. People were going home for the school holidays, to see family or stay with friends or just get out and roam alone for a while. So the atmosphere was pretty excited and every now and then crys could be heard of "Who borrowed the book that was on my table?" or "I can't believe you made all that stuff fit in that one tiny bag, like, how did you do it?" or "Evan, get back here this minute and finish packing!". In the hustle and bustle nobody (except the professor) seemed to notice a girl slip into the mansion with two large shoulder bags gripped under her arms.

She finally found the professor after about fifteen minutes of wandering aimlessly around observing stuff. She was just being welcomed by Professor Xavier and being told that he hoped she would be happy here when a blue face popped around the door and started asking the professor something. He stopped abruptly when he saw that the prof was already occupied.

"Ahh.. Kurt! How nice of you to drop by. I have a new student here that might like to be shown around. Would you like to do the honours, since I don't think you have anything else to do. She's in the empty room next to Wolverine's, by herself ."

"Yes , sure professor, " answered the blue furred person, who of course was Kurt Wagner, the mansions resident teleporter. The girl picked up her bags and fell in step with Kurt. They were both silent all the way to the girls room but were subtly observing each other.

She had a very slim figure and was wearing a dark blue, soft, cotton skivvy. It had a vee neck and was a little bit too big for her so it came down a bit over her hands, and was longer than ordinary.She was wearing light denim jeans that were flared at the bottom so they covered most of her shoes. These clothes complemented her hair which was light brown with bright bluey-purple streaks. It was quite short with a long fringe to the sides and it framed her face which had a very pale skin tone. She also wore glasses with a slight blue tint, very cool. Though she wasn't as pale as Rogue, Kurt thought she could have quite easily dyed her hair black and become a convincing goth.

He was wearing his usual red, vee neck skivvy with his short sleeved, brown shirt over top with his kahki pants. But the girl thought his blue appearance , tail and white eyes were the coolest. She was facinated at the way he stood on his toes, waved his tail and kept his balance all at the same time. She was sure SHE would have fallen flat on her face. She smiled at this.

"Vat is so funny fraulein?" Kurt asked upon seeing her grin.

"Oh I was just thinking that if I was poised the way you are I'd fall over all the time. You have amazing balance." she replied.

" Ahh.. vell it kind of comes with the package." he said looking at the ground.

"Don't take it like that," she immediately responded, smiling she said "I think you look adorable!"

"Really?!?" she could see him puff up with pride. Grinning he said "I don't usually get that response from people. Even other mutants! So vat's you're name anyvay? I can't just call you the new girl."

By now they had reached the girls room. She invited him in as she proceeded to dump her bags at the end of her bed. She started to unpack the necessary stuff (eg. pjs) and told Kurt a little about herself at the same time. He plonked himself on her bed and listened.

" My name is Beth Viness, but please don't call me Beth, I prefer Wraith."

"That's okay everyone round here has a codename that they go by. You'll fit right in" he interupted, "but go on."

" Right, well, I'm sixteen. I come from a family of a mum, dad and an annoying younger sister. My favourite school subject is art which is also a hobbie of sorts. I love fast food , junk food and would die for raspberry liquorice. I hate most vegetables but I've found that raw stuff is quite nice. And my favourite colour is blue, could you tell from the hair?" she then ran a brush through it a couple of times and continued," That's part of the reason I like how you look so much. I mean have you ever thought how lucky you are. You could have been born hi-lighter pink! Talk about embarassing."

" Ja , I supose you're right. I hadn't thought of it like that."

" Hey I almost forgot!" she said turning to him " I'm busy dishing out info and you haven't even told me what goes with being fuzzy and blue. Come on, your turn to spill.You could show me around the mansion at the same time, cause I'm finished with most of this." She guestured at the now tidy room except for the other,smaller bag which she had shoved under the bed and out of the way.

"Okay," he responded " you sure unpacked fast."

She just mumbled something about liking things tidy so he left it at that.


	2. Making the Rounds

THE WRAITH CHRONICLES

Making The Rounds

The first place Kurt took Wraith (after filling her in on his painful parentage, abilties and so forth) was down the hall to see their common room, in which was a couch or two and a spread of people. Kurt introduced Wraith to a dark skinned, yellow haired boy who was avoiding his Aunt. She found out his name was Evan Daniels, aka Spyke, and he seemed to her to be slightly self assured and the skater type, who had his heart in the right place. A tall white haired lady who Kurt later said was Storm walked into the room and dragged Evan off saying something like "This is you're vacation as well Evan but you must finish your packing or else I'll leave you behind!"

"Have you already finished your packing Kitty?" Kurt asked a girl with brown hair in a ponytail, who was lounging on a couch, nose deep in a book.

"Mmmm..hmm..." she said and then looked up and noticed he wasn't alone.

" Oh! Like, who's the new girl?" she asked looking at Wraith.

" I'm Wraith ," she said answering for herself, "whatcha reading?" she asked pulling the cover around so she could see. "Hey great book!"

"Oh so you've read it? Have you, like, got the new one? I've heard it's,like, really good!"

"Yeah! She is such an awesome author..." Wraith replied and she and Kitty would have gone on, from there, for hours if Kurt hadn't interrupted saying that the Prof wanted Wraith shown around, and they had to go and meet everyone else before they took off, as he dragged Wraith out of the room. Kitty called after them that she was glad to meet her and hoped they could, 'like, get to know one another properly' when she got back.

"She seemed really nice." Wraith commented as they walked away. The next person they encountered in the corridor looked quite fierce, and Wraith was sure she'd have to mind her p's and q's with him. He was another adult and was dressed as though he was going to go on a long ride on a moterbike ( which as it happenes is exactly what he was going off to do ). He saw Kurt first and said gruffly "Hey Elf, whatcha wandering round the corridors for. Go and make yourself useful, I'm just heading off." He then noticed Wraith, who was beginning to feel almost invisible ,the way people kept ignoring her on their first meetings. Before Kurt could say anything the man started again saying, "So you're the new kid Charles told me was arriving, a bit runty looking, but you'll do alright. Good to see you doing somethin Elf," and to Wraith, smiling slightly, "I'll see you round sometime kid." He then put his helmet under his arm and stalked off.

" Vow! He must like you." Kurt said looking slightly awed. "Yeah...." Wraith replied with a look of deep concentration on her face. She was thinking that he would be an interesting person to talk to if she could get him to talk more than a couple of sentences at once.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon she met most of the occupants of mutant manor, as they called it. There were some she connected with straight away, like Rogue and Kitty, but then there were some, that she was sure she could live with but would never fully like. Tabitha, Jean and Bezerker for example. She decided that Jean was nice and all, but she was too responsible and perfect. Tabby was a loud extrovert and was too way out there for Wraith to handle for long. And she just got this feeling from Bezerker, she didn't know quite what it was. But she thought it best to avoid him for now.

Kurt left her at her room and Wraith flopped down on her soft, comfortable bed. She decided that she would thouroughly like living here and couldn't wait to explore more, both the people and the institute. Before she went to bed she finished unpacking her stuff ( which by the way wasn't as much as you'd expect ) and set everything in it's place. She put her favourite light blue, fuzzy, teddy bear on her dressing table and then snuggled under the warm, clean sheets with a sigh.

"Now everything is perfect." she thought to herself and promptly fell asleep.


	3. A Talk with the Crawler

THE WRAITH CHRONICLES

A Talk With The Crawler

Soon the only people left at the institute were Mr McCoy, Rogue, the Professor, Nightcrawler and Wraith herself. Wolverine was off who knows where doing who knows what and would be back in his own good time. Scott was visiting his brother and would be back in a week, whereas everyone else was coming back in two.

" So why arn't you with your adopted parents having a holiday yourself?" Wraith asked Nightcrawler, as she sharpened her drawing pencils.

They were in one of the nearest common rooms. It had an open fire place and light rose coloured wallpaper. There were three huge leather sofas, two against opposite walls and one in front of the fire. In the middle of winter it was a very comforting place to lounge about, doing nothing in particular. Wraith was hunched over her pad of refill, which would have looked slightly odd to anyone not used to strange occurances because it appeared to be resting on nothing about a foot above the ground.

"How do you do that?" he replied, answering question with query. Nightcrawler aka Kurt was lying on the couch by the fire with his head resting on his hands, on the armrest. His tail was lazily flicking back and forth and he was looking over Wraith's shoulder at her sketches.

Wraith realized that she hadn't yet actually told him what she could do. "Of all the stupid things to forget about telling him." she thought chiding herself.

"Vell fraulein are you going to yeild your secret power or not?" he asked again waking her from her thoughts.

"Yes, sorry I was just thinking."

"You seem to do that a lot. It would make my head hurt." he said laughing.

"Hey!" she exclaimed going to give him a shove but falling onto the couch when he dissappeared.

BAMF..' and he appeared in front of the fire.

"Nice try ,but are you going to answer my question or not?" Kurt asked putting his hands on his hips.

" Mmm...hmm...," she said going back to her drawngs and rubbing out with her eraser violently. "Although it's kinda hard to explain.You know how water has three states and how ice is solid water. Well, I can manipulate air molecules and solidify it for limited periods of time. This means I can do all sorts of things."

Wraith got up to demonstate and walked up on shimmery, translucent steps until she could touch the ceiling. Looking down she decided it would be a better idea to float to the ground. She wasn't exactly scared of heights but she was still slightly new to her powers and walking on what looked like nothing, from a great height is disconcerting to anyone.

"I can't really fly," she said as she floated to light on the couch by the wall, " but by constantly changing the molecules I can make a mobile cushion."

"Interesting......." Kurt replied. He sat down on the couch by the fire again to think and Wraith went back to her random doodles. The room was silent for a while and Wraith stopped drawing to stretch and yawn. Kurt teleported to the kitchen and back returning with some tasty looking sandwitches.

"Scrummy and full of fatty goodness, great for a supper snack." he said with a smile as he offered her one.

"Mmmm....hith isth good!" she mumbled with her mouth full, "what'th in it?"

" Oh, just my secret recipe. Bacon, french fries and gerkin with some other special ingrediants." Kurt said grinning.

There was silence for a while more, interupted only by the quiet munching of the sandwitches. Wraith's head felt fuzzy and she knew she should probably be going to bed soon. Her eyelids felt heavy but she wanted to ask Kurt something before she dozed off. Working up her courage, she began slowly.

" Kurt, I was thinking....... what are we going to do for the rest of the holidays. I mean, there's next to no one around and I still don't know what there is to do outside the mansion. I was wondering if we could go to town and you could show me around? And could we ask Rogue to come too?"

Except because she still wasn't sure if it would be okay and wanted badly to get to know both Kurt and Rogue better so she would have at least one definate friend to talk with ,the last bit came out more like this:

"Iwaswonderingifwecouldgototownandyoucouldshowmearound?AndcouldweaskRoguetocometoo?"

"Wooe, hey slow down, repeat that last bit again" Kurt said then shoved the last bit of his third sandwitch in his mouth.

"I've heard there's a mall in Bayville and I was wondering if you and Rogue would come with me into town."

"Sure, I spose it would be good to get out of the mansion for a bit. I'll ask Rogue in the morning. Is that all 'cause I'm going to yawn go to bed."

"Yeah, that's it....big yawn , hey! Now you've got me doin it!"

Wraith packed up her things and watched Kurt dissappear with a good night, leaving behind his usual faint sulfurous smoke. She thought nervously ,on the way to her room, that she still didn't really know anyone that well. What if when they got to know her they didn't like what they found. She still felt so alone. In bed she hugged her bear tight and whispered a prayer to keep her safe and others safe from her. She rolled over, drawing the sheets up to her neck and listened to the sounds of the night. It was a long time before she finally closed her eyes in weary sleep.


	4. The Getting used to Bayville Bear

THE WRAITH CHRONICLES

The Getting-used-to-Bayville Bear

Wraith slowly opened her eyes and groaned. It took a couple of seconds to remember again where she was. She sighed and grabbed her clock. Hey, it's eight thirty, not a bad sleep in for an unfamiliar place,she thought.

She rolled out of the sheets and immediately regretted it. It was freezing compared to her nice warm bed. She quickly got her stuff and headed for the shower. The good thing about there being hardly anyone around is that she avoided the morning squabbles for the bathroom, and the noise.

Once she was done and back in her room she had a look at herself in the mirror on the back of her door. Not too bad she thought and tucked a stray strand of her blue streaked hair behind her ear. She was wearing a white round necked skivvy and had pushed the sleeves up. Her pants were dark, brown-green cargos and she had on a pair of large-ish silver hoops that matched her silver necklace. It had a small crystal dangling on it that reflected the light, like a prism, and it sent rainbows everywhere when she held it up to the sunshine.

Simple yet styley, she thought and then rolled her eyes at herself for being so vain. She placated herself with the excuse, that she wanted to give a good impression ,and then trudged down the hall to find Kurt, appreciating her socks and slippers for their warmth.

She knocked on his door.

"Wha.... go avay, I'm still asleep. I'sto early!"she heard him mumble.

"No it's not, otherwise I'd still be asleep. It's nine. We were going to the mall remember?"

she called through the closed door.

He groaned a sleepy 'alright' and then was silent for such a long time Wraith had thought he'd gone back to sleep. But then he said that she should go and find Rogue and he would be ready in a while. She left him saying something about, annoying friends waking him up from a nice dream about being asleep, and went off to find Rogue like he suggested.

She found her already having breakfast in the dinning room by herself.

"You lost shuga?" she said looking up at Wraith while sipping her hot chocolate. Rogue was wearing her dark purple skivvy and lilac scarf with her usual gloves and a long , dark, jean skirt with splits down the sides. Just to make sure she didn't freeze she also had black, thigh length socks on.

" No, um.... I was just wondering...." Wraith trailed off.

" Spit it out. Ah don't bite." Rogue calmly started on her toast.

" If you don't have anything planned for today , do you want to come to the mall with me and Kurt?"

"Sure, Ah'd like ta get out and besides, it's not like ah've got anathin better ta do."

" Remind me again why Ah agreed ta this!!?" Rogue said grumbling good naturedly as she was dragged away from the CD she was looking at by an enthusiastic Wraith, who was clutching her sleeve.

"Hey it's not _my_ fault. Who knew she vas such a crazy person deep down?" Kurt said with a laugh following them.

They had been at the mall now for an hour and Wraith seemed to be taking the professor's parting words to them, to heart. He had agreed with the idea of showing Wraith around and had told them to 'have fun'. Wraith certainly was! She loved looking at stuff even if she couldn't buy it. Ah... the joy of window shopping. Wraith had been through the clothing stores, toy stores and spent the longest at the book shop and pet store. Kurt and Rogue watched her in amusement as she cooed at the rabbits and kittens and exclaimed " How cute!" and "It's sooo adorable".

The interesting part came about ten minutes after they had eaten morning tea at a cafe. Kurt had two donuts and Rogue ate a slice of custard pie, both had coffee with their food. Wraith had a piece of chocolate cake and several mocochinos. The cafe had a 'buy four deserts and get a free drink' deal going. When they left Wraith also bought a vanilla coke so now she was on a bit of a high. Okay, so that's a slight down play, she was now bouncing up and down and squealing in delight. Honestly she was having such a good time she was more high on joy than suger.

Now Wraith dragged Rogue into another shop. It had jewelery and photo frames, odds and ends, but Wraith was pointing joyously at the teddy bears.

" Lookit , look at this one!"

I should warn you right now that if there's one thing that girl had a soft spot for, it was soft toys. The object of her affection was a gorgeous bear by anyone's standards. It had long plush fur that was lovely and soft. It's colouring was a mixture of deep blue and violet splodges on a cream body, it's mouth and nose were stitched in deep blue that went with the lilac fur on the inside of it's ears and the pads of it's feet. It had shiny black eyes, one of which had a patch of the darker fur ringing it , and to top it off it wore a silver star on a wide white, see-through ribbon that was in a bow around it's neck.

Wraith had pulled it out from the back of the toy stuffed shelf and now held it in a fierce hug. She looked at her companions and said suddenly very serious;

" I've_ got _to have this one. I found it and there's only one. It's special and I haven't got a teddy for Bayville yet. I need one so that I can truly feel at home here. She can be my getting-used-to-Bayville bear. She's so lovely." she said caressing the bear's face, "What do you think?" ,she asked.

All through this speech Kurt had been watching her face carefully. He'd seen flashes of feelings that were completely out of place to how she had been acting before. He thought he saw loneliness, sadness and something else he couldn't describe. Suddenly he needed for her to be happy again. He walked over to her and , putting on a smile took the bear from her arms. He turned it this way and that , tickling it's ear and rubbing it's feet while Rogue and Wraith watched curiously. Finally handing the bear back to Wraith he grinned and said ;

" Vell it seems to be in tip-top shape, no finer bear I've ever seen!", leaning in conspiratorially he added "Although I vouldn't let it eat too many sweats if I were you, it might get fat!". He was pleased to see a smile break out on both Wraith and Rogue's faces and he laughed.

Wraith hadn't bought anything other than a novel and the food so she had just enough cash left to buy the bear. Before she had left home her mother had given her some money and had told her to get herself a present, Wraith had been saving it and it seemed appropriate to spend it now.

" Well Ah think you've had enough of an outin for one day, can we go home now Wraith?" Rogue asked changing the hand she was holding her things with. " With all this wandering round you've ben doin , Ah'm worn out."

And so they went back the manor, all with different thoughts on their minds. Kurt was thinking curiously about why Wraith had looked so strange and why he even wanted to know. Rogue was thinking of the new top she had bought and how fun it had been shopping with Wraith,which was unusual for her since she didn't like shopping too much. They had been normal and it was a nice feeling. Wraith herself saved her thoughts until she was alone, in her room.

She thought about Kurt and Rogue as she put her bear in a place of honor on her dresser. She let her mind wander on their interesting day as she fell asleep.


	5. Needing Control

THE WRAITH CHRONICLES

Needing Control

Wraith walked slowly away from the professor's room. She dragged her feet slightly and frustratedly ran a hand through her violet/blue streaked hair. She felt close to tears when she remembered why she needed private lessons with the professor in the first place.

Don't worry Wraith. You are making progress, even if it isn't as much as you would like. It will be all right. You're safe here. Now I suggest you go to your room and relax for a while. Give you mind and powers a chance to recover. , Professor Xavier called telepathically as she continued away from him.

She felt so angry at herself, if only she could get proper control so she could call her power when she needed it and know it wouln't just pop up. She got to her room and put on a long warm knit jersey, then she curled up in a ball and against the professor's advice, she floated up into the corner of the ceiling. He was wrong, she thought, he didn't know that her power didn't wear out that easily. That was why she always had to be careful. Then again, she thought ,sobbing slightly, he probably _did_ know and that was why he'd said not to use them. Maybe he thought that they would get out of control. Wraith didn't want that to happen. Then she would have to go. She would be alone again with all the thoughts in her head, the only things to keep her company. A particularly loud sob escaped her lips.

Rogue happened to be walking past at that moment and was startled by the sound. She knew it must be Wraith because it was coming from her room but she couldn't see her through the open door. Come to think of it, Rogue realised, Wraith had been keeping to herself a lot lately and she hadn't seen her for about four days now. Ever since their mall trip.

"Wraith are you in there?" Rogue asked softly.

There came a muffled noise and then a 'look up'. Rogue did , she saw Wraith huddled in the corner of the room by the ceiling. Apparantly she had been crying because she kept sniffing and her eyes were a little red. Her skin was paler than usual and her hair was quite ruffled. A blue lock of hair was in her face and she had pulled her rather large jersey over her hands and close around her.

"What's wrong... do you wanna talk about it?" Rogue asked uncertainly.

Very slowly Wraith floated down to the bed and then grabbed her light blue fuzzy bear, the one she'd brought from home, named Emma. Rogue came and sat on Wraith's bed with her, shutting the door behind her.

"Where you ben these last few days? Anyone would think you'd left the manor." Rogue said.

" I've been doing training with the professor. To help me control my power." Wraith said slowly.

" Private trainin, why? That is, if you don't mind my askin"

" To stop people from getting hurt. I can use my power but it also pops up when I'm feeling particularly strongly about something. Professor Xavier is trying to see if I can get it to come only when called, so to speak." Wraith replied.

There was silence for a while and Rogue was just starting to wonder if she should leave when Wraith spoke again.

" When your power manafested itself, were you scared?" Wraith asked hugging her bear tightly as if it were a life line.

"Yes I was......I was at a dance when it happened. A guy asked me ta dance and then accidentally bumped inta me. I got his memories and skills and everythin. It was really frightenin and I got very confused. Thinkin I was him and all. I was lucky compaired to him though. He ended up in a coma for a week. It was a good thing I eventually got myself sorted out and joined the X-men instead of stayin with Mistique. I 'spose you know about her from the elf and the prof?" Rogue finished.

"Yeah. The professor filled me in on who's who.....," again Wraith paused, " I nearly killed someone before I came here. No one knew I was a mutant except me. I kept it to myself. It was a special secret and I had fun with it before I realized all that I could do." Wraith said now rocking back and forth.

"I was working on a school project with a partner, at my house. I didn't hate her, but I didn't really like her either. She was just telling me what our topic should be (_telling_ me ,not asking or suggesting, telling me) when our cat jumped over our fence into our back yard.

I loved my cat more than life itself. I had rescued her from the SPCA and death, tamed her and taken care of her. She was my best friend, well, more of an only friend actually. The girl from school took one look at her and screamed at me to 'make it go away!' She got up and reached for a stone from our garden to hit Paws with. She had been getting on my nerves all afternoon but when I saw what she was going to do my heart froze. I thought that if the stone hit my cat, she would die. I couldn't lose her! I was filled with an all encompasing rage, it was cold fire racing through my blood and suddenly, something snapped.

I know what happened now but I didn't then. I solidified the air all around the girl and my cat. Paws was too close to the girl and I didn't have any control. The girl nearly died but somehow the professor got there before she did. But the very thing I had been trying to save, died. I had killed her. The professor talked to my parents and told them that Paws had died of fright, but I had hurt the girl accidentally with my power. He told them I was a mutant and they agreed I should come here. So I did. Although it was a week before they could coax me down from the ceiling to come. Do you hate me?" Wraith finished by asking. She was crying openly now. Clutching Emma and rocking backwards and forwards. She obviously thought that acidentally killing an animal was somehow an unforgivable evil.

Before Rogue could answer Wraith stopped her by continuing.

"I do. Don't tell anyone. Please. Especially not Kurt. Not yet. It's been nice to have friends again."

Rogue felt so sorry for her. She pulled her into an awkward hug and and tried to comfort her.

"Ah know how you feel. It's alright. Everythin's gonna be okay."


	6. Movies

THE WRAITH CHRONICLES By B. Eustace

Movies

"PLEASE!!!!", both Wraith and Kurt whined loudly in front of Rogue's door.

"NO! Ah'm too tired from LAST night! What are you gonna watch anyway? We exhausted our movies supplies yesterday. Now leave me alone so Ah can catch up on my beauty sleep." Rogue said muffled through her closed door.

It was eight thirty and in Wraith's opinion _far_ to early for bed. Considering though that they had all stayed up watching movies last night until three in the morning Wraith thought she could cut Rogue some slack.

It was a special night for Wraith because tomorrow Scott would be coming back as well as Mr McCoy from his short trip to the Redwood forest. The professor had said that Wolverine might also be back too but he wasn't certain as, "Logan doesn't exactly come and go to an ordinary timetable and you can't _ever _know precisely when he will return." But still ,as far as Wraith was concerned this was her last day with just the three of them and she wanted to make it last. Tomorrow was a new day with new people to deal with.

Kurt brought the popcorn from the kitchen the fast way and Wraith organised the movies. They sat on a three seater couch that was very comfy and ate lollies and the popcorn which was buttered. First they watched the Matrix again and then Speed. By then they were running low on food so Kurt BAMF ed to the kitchen and finally brought back some more lollies. Gummy bears, sour snakes, raspberry licorice and pineapple lumps along with two bags of salt and vinegar flavored chips amongst other things.

"Mmmmm...rasberry licorice!" Wraith exclaimed and jumped up off the couch to get some lollies.

"Vat should ve vatch next Fraulein?" Kurt asked as he dropped a piece of popcorn into his mouth using his tail to hold the bowl.

" Hmm... I don't know." Wraith replied as she floated above the far corner of the couch eating the licorice. Her expression as she tried to make her sleep starved brain think, was priceless, and Kurt started sniggering, then laughing while Wraith looked on in confusion.

" What's so funny furball?", she asked putting her hands on her hips.

" Your face vent all screwed up vhen you vere thinking!" Kurt managed to say while trying to regain control of the remaining popcorn and chip mixture which was leaning precariously and looked dangerously close to falling.

Suddenly the bowl tipped and both Kurt and Wraith made a dive for it. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. The bowl flying, Kurt and Wraith diving with hands up and then.... chips were EVERYWHERE! Kurt took one look at Wraith and started laughing even harder than he had been before. Wraith glared at him.

" You think I look bad!? Wait till you look in the mirror elf!" , and she grabbed a handful of lollies and threw them at him. Kurt was so surprised he didn't even get a chance to teleport. Then....

"FOOD FIGHT!" he yelled grabbing some of the other supplies he'd put behind the couch.

And so it began that Kurt threw stuff at Wraith and she got splattered with more chips. She picked up the food off the ground with her power and Kurt got a face full of stuff.

"AH HA! Beat that you soft toy!" she yelled.

"Hey! No fair!" he teleported and pushed her off her air cushion.

"Neener neener neeener!" he taunted with his tounge poking out.

Back and forth they went. Both getting a lot of junk food in their hair but Wraith managed to stop the worst of it with an air barrier. When they finally stopped they were laughing too much to do anything. When it subsided Kurt said; "You're a unordnung!"

"What ?"

"You're a mess!"

"You too !"

Wraith said after surveying the damage. The room was quite a sight too. There was dip on the wall and a mixture of crushed chips and lollies stuck to the floor.

" Vell, now that we have gotten rid of the food, you vant to vatch Lord of the Rings ?" Kurt asked smiling as he removed chips from his hair and brushed off the couch.

"Kay" Wraith replied before she shook_ her _hair to get out the bits still there.

Kurt studied Wraith while she watched the t.v. Her blue-streaked hair was tousled and she was staring sleepily at the screen. She was now only a hand span above the middle of the couch and had made a pillow of air for her arms to rest on beside her. Kurt himself was almost as tired and had turned down the sound on the movie while he stretched his legs over the couch and propped himself up with an elbow so he looked towards the large screen and Wraith.

This week had been a lot of fun he thought, reflecting . It was interesting having someone new around to talk too and muck about with.

During his thoughts Wraith had been slowly drifting lower and now was actually on the couch. She was almost asleep and had unconsciously snuggled up to him when she landed. He moved slightly so that his legs didn't lose their circulation, being careful not to disturb her and he put his arm around her shoulder. She had her head resting against his shoulder and had automatically tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Kurt?," she mumbled softly, "Who's gonna clean up?"

"Don't vorry, ve'll do the morning." he assured her.

His last thoughts before he also fell asleep were that she was so warm, and would she let him hold her like this if she was awake?........

Then there was no noise except for the movie faintly playing in the background and their soft breathing.


	7. Driving Lessons

THE WRAITH CHRONICLES

Driving Lessons

When Wraith saw Logan at the breakfast table that morning her heart filled with anxiety. Last night the professor had had a little talk with her about having driving lessons. For some reason he felt it was a necessary part of her education to drive a car. Wraith disagreed.

From the professor's point of view it had actually been quite amusing. She had been the complete opposite of Kitty who had begged to be taught. Wraith on the other hand....

" Are you absolutely positive this is the right thing to do? For all you know I could be a maniac and cause grievious damage to anyone who got in my way. It would be a lot safer just to can the whole thing! Please......." Wraith pleaded with the professor.

"You'll be fine Wraith, It's not actually as bad as you think it is." Professor Xavier said trying in vain to calm Wraith's frazzeled nerves.

" But what if I wreak the jeep?"

"Wraith.."

" What if I do something by accident and it blows us up?!"

"Wraith..."

"What if Logan gets really really annoyed at me and never speaks to me again?"

"What if .."

"Wraith! Stop it. You'll be fine. And if anything happens one of the teachers will be in my calling range and will come out to help you. As for Logan, he may be gruff but he's more patient than you'd think."

So this afternoon saw Wraith in the drivers seat and Logan in the front passanger's seat with a bemused expression on his face as he studied the blue and brown haired girl.

" Right, you're doin well kid now I think it's time we went past 30 ok? Pull outa the round-a-bout and head for the gate."

"Logan I really don't know...."

"Don't sweat it kid, you'll be fine ." Logan repeated for about the tenth time.

So out they went on to the long straight drive.

" Okay , we've got enough room let's see if you can hit 100. You're gonna have to do it someday and now is as good a time as any."

Wraith nervously sped up.

" 70's good but you're not there on." Logen said growling as he watched the speedometer.

Wraith speed up some more, she was almost there , almost ... and then she hit 100. The problem was that was as much as her speed fearing brain could take and her powers kicked in.

WHAM!

The jeep bounced off something that wasn't there. Wraith had created a huge dome of air like material that had stopped the jeep in it's tracks and bounced it backwards.

The engine cut off and several curious heads poked out various windows.

"Kid! Wriath! Are you alright?" Logen asked pulling her out of the jeep.

Logan she's alright. She just got knocked out. Bring her up to the hospital wing and I'll meet you there. I should have known somehow she'd get her way... looks like we'll have to wait a bit before trying _that_ again. Charles's voice said in Logen's head.

Wolverine carried her to a bed and gently put her down as the Professor watched.

"She has a mild concussion, that's all. Her barrier must have absorbed most of the shock. Quite impressive really, now all we need to do is train her so she can do things like that whenever she wants and not just as an automatic reaction to a situation." Charles said.

" I'm glad she hasn't seriously damaged herself. It was an accident but I still feel partially responsible." Logen commented.

"Oh don't worry Logen, she'll be up and about soon enough, and by what I can sense from her mind, she'll enjoy the excuse to stay away from the people coming back from their holidays."

"Her minds all messed up ain't it Charles." Logen said looking at the Professor.

"I think she just needs some time to sort herself out, and some good friends to look out for her."


End file.
